Chapter 21 - Ten Glass Eyes, Part 2 of 3
The door to lab R-017 finally gave way after the quartet of male technicians managed to apply enough leverage to get it open. Once done, Ritsuko (a flashlight in-hand), Maya, Satsuki, and Kaede stepped over the heap of techs (with Maya quietly thanking them) and made their way to the bridge.
"Let's hurry to the command center," Ritsuko urged her protégé along, "it's already been down for seven minutes!"
"And none of the backup systems have kicked in," Maya noted. "Which means we'll need to use the emergency ladders to get there."
Meanwhile, in the elevator they were currently stuck in, Misato and Kaji continued to ponder their current circumstances.
"This isn't a normal occurrence," Misato stated.
Kaji found his curiosity piqued. "What kind of power system's in place?"
"Three systems," Misato answered. "The main, the sub-systems, and the reserves. All three failing simultaneously is too much to be a coincidence."
Kaji nodded as Misato tried the emergency phone within the car, only to get no response. "Only one other conclusion at this point..."
The bridge, around the same time...
"...Is that we're facing saboteurs," Commander Ikari said. "It's clear the breakers were taken out purposefully."
"Which means that, if an Angel were to attack right now," Fuyutsuki began to state, "we'd all be sitting ducks." He paused as he continued to light some candles to provide a bit of illumination. "Do you think SEELE could be responsible?"
Gendo gave it some thought before replying. "There's no reason for them to-their own plans would be disrupted. If anything, I've more reason to suspect that the party who attempted to kidnap the First Child and crippled the EVAs' power stations during the Eighth's attack is behind this. If Kaji's theories are correct, then they're sending us a message."
"But to what end?" the former professor posed. Gendo, for once, had no answer.
JSSDF Headquarters, around the same time...
"Radar's detected an unidentified object, projected landing point in the former Atami region."
The officers overseeing this took a moment to process this, before one of them spoke up. "It's likely the Ninth one," the oldest of the three stated.
"Agreed," the middle-aged one of the trio concurred, "it must be an Angel."
"What'll we do?" the youngest of the trio asked.
The oldest general paused before giving an answer. "Go to alert status, for now. We'll stick to protocol."
"Right," the middle-aged man affirmed. "This one's headed towards Tokyo-3 anyway. It's NERV's problem now..."
At that moment, were one watching from a hillside in said former Atami region, one could make out what looked like four gigantic, yet spindly spider legs crawling across the landscape, leaving waves as it wove through a nearby lake.
Back in the JSSDF command center, the officers were alerted to the Angel's landing, and its continuing advance.
"What's the word from Tokyo-3?" the oldest asked.
"Still no response," a communications technician reported.
The middle-aged man scowled at this. "What in the hell is going on with NERV?"
NERV HQ, that moment...
Ritsuko, Maya, Satsuki, and Kaede found themselves climbing the emergency ladders towards the bridge.
"To think I saw these as just decorative holdovers from before," Ritsuko mused. "Then again, I never expected I'd be using them."
"You know what they say about preventative measures," Maya commented. "Although now I know what an old TV dinner feels like..."
"Heh," Ritsuko lightly chuckled, "just be glad we're not climbing through these to thwart a hostage situation."
"I blame myself for introducing her to that movie," Satsuki jokingly admitted.
Outside entrance to NERV HQ...
"This one's not working either," Asuka said as she turned to face the others.
"It would appear none of the facilities work," Rei stated. "That is very odd."
"You're telling us," Mari commented, while briefly throwing Maria a knowing look. "Think something's happened down below?"
"Probably," Shinji said grimly. "Which means we've got to get in touch with Central Dogma, fast."
While he was saying this to Asuka and Rei, Maria, out of their view, quietly began tapping on her right earring, activating the transmitter within as she sent a coded message...
A small electronics repair shop on the other side of downtown Tokyo-3, at that moment...
Mana, Mayumi, Musashi, and Keita were working on a few odds and ends for the other two members of their group when a noise got their attention. When the power had gone out, they immediately got to work and activated a generator to get their little HQ back up and running. The noise was coming from a wireless receiver Musashi and Keita had set up in the event that any internet connections were down, and already Mayumi was at work deciphering the incoming Morse code message.
"Is it Maria?" Keita asked.
"Shh," Mayumi shushed Keita as she concentrated on decoding the message. "It's her, all right."
"What's she say?" Musashi asked.
Mayumi then read back the message: "Blackout at NERV HQ. Entire city may be affected as well. Pilots and myself working to get in. Tell Mana to get out 'pet project' and do a flyover." The bookworm looked to the brunette girl, who got the message immediately.
"Musashi, with me," Mana said. "Mayumi, you and Keita let Maria know I'll be airborne soon."
Mayumi and Keita nodded and quickly got to work sending a reply to Maria, while Mana and Musashi headed to the storage room in the back of the shop to retrieve the 'pet project', along with the rest of Mana's equipment.
NERV HQ...
All over the place, whether it was in the elevator car carrying Misato and Kaji; on the bridge; or up at the entrance where the pilots were, no one could utilize the emergency landlines.
Topside, Rei opened her bag and pulled out a small red pamphlet.
"What's that?" Asuka inquired.
"Emergency protocol," Rei replied.
"Does it say anything about getting to HQ in a situation like this?" Shinji asked.
"Among other things, it has maps for alternative entryways into the Geofront," Rei answered. "According to the page I am currently on, the Route 7 maintenance tunnel should get us inside. From there, it is a direct route to headquarters." She then motioned towards the door to the aforementioned maintenance tunnel.
As Asuka was about to speak up, Shinji stepped in. "Before anyone starts calling dibs on being group leader," he said, "I'd say it's better if we follow Rei's lead on this, considering she's the one who's worked in the Geofront the longest out of all of us."
"Seconded," Mari chimed in. Maria, oddly, remained silent, instead nodding with seeming reluctance.
Asuka, a biting retort on the tip of her tongue, mentally took a step back and considered the logic in the facts laid before her. Finally, she responded with a brief sigh. "All right, we'll go with Wundergirl's lead on this."
"Thank you," Rei said as they approached the door to Route 07. The group opted to leave their bags in a nearby cubby, fingers crossed that they wouldn't be stolen. Discreetly, Maria and Mari took a few small items out and secreted them away in hidden pockets of their school uniforms, added by them a day prior. Upon examination of the entrance, they noticed the emergency manual opener mechanism.
"Huh, nice to know we've got all sorts of redundancies," Shinji noted.
"All right then, you're up, Shinji," Asuka stated. "You are the man among us, aren't you?"
"And they say women aren't sexist," Shinji said bemusedly as he began to try and apply leverage to the mechanism's handle. Surprisingly, Maria joined him in the effort, and together, the two managed to get the door open halfway enough that they could slip inside.
Asuka was astonished by the show of strength Maria displayed. "What the-how'd you do that?"
Maria gave a mild shrug. "Just maintaining a good diet and exercise," the blonde replied. After all, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei wouldn't know about how, from the time she was a little girl, like her granduncle before her Maria was trained in mind and body to reach near-superhuman levels, granting her great strength and endurance for a girl her age; all this, in addition to her photographic memory, mastery of martial arts, and vast knowledge of many fields of science.
"Once more, unto the breach?" Mari posed with a hint of theatricality. With that, the quintet began their journey through the maintenance tunnel towards their destination.
JSSDF HQ...
The middle-aged officer hung up the phone with a grunt. "Damn those Joint Staff bastards!" he cursed, "Only relying on us at times like this..."
"What's the word from up top?" the oldest asked.
"*Sigh* Apparently, the morons in Tokyo-2 are getting ready to run," the mid-lifer said.
"Angel is still active and advancing," a female tech reported.
"In any case," the oldest said, "we need to get in contact with NERV's people."
"And how do you suggest we do that, considering we haven't heard so much as a peep?" the mid-lifer asked derisively.
The youngest of the three commanding officers answered. "By actually going there."
Moments later, in the sky above Tokyo-3...
A JASDF plane was soon flying overhead as its pilot issued a warning from its loudspeakers. "Attention! Attention! This is the 3rd District ASDF! An unidentified object is moving towards this area! All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters!"
Makoto, observing this from down below, grew a worried expression on his face. "Ooh, this sounds bad-I've got to get to HQ right away, but how?!" His ears perked up when he heard the sounds of a woman speaking through a PA system attached to a political campaign van. "Well this is my lucky day..."
Outside the back of the electronics shop...
Mana and Musashi were finishing gearing the former up for her flight when the warning from the plane was heard. It didn't take long for them to figure out one possibility for the approaching menace.
"Talk about perfect timing," Mana sarcastically mused.
[Suggested music: "Main Title/Takeoff", James Horner, The Rocketeer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).]
She was wearing a tan flight suit with a brown, slim-yet-insulated bomber jacket zipped up fully over the top half, the collar secured with a brass snap. On her legs were flight boots not unlike those of a professional fighter pilot, and her hands were gloved, with a trigger mechanism built into the palm of the right one. Held in her hands was a sleek, golden-colored helmet that almost resembled a Roman gladiator's helm, only fully-encasing the wearer's head. High on the back of the helmet was a fin that was designed to aid in steering, on the face of the helmet was a three-tiered visor, and on the sides were two round discs that held the communications components. Musashi helped strap onto Mana's back the 'pet project' she and Maria had spoken of on a number of occasions: a silver-colored, sleek, retro-futuristic-looking jetpack.
Once the pack was fully-secured, Musashi stepped back a few feet to give Mana some breathing room, and then, before she had her helmet fully on, he handed her something that resembled a NERF-styled take on a grenade launcher, with a two-handed grip and a triangular shape atop its barrel.
"Still can't believe you and Maria managed to make a miniaturized railgun launcher," Mana said as she considered the object she hefted in front of herself.
"As long as the right parts can be found," Musashi said, referring to the occasions where they'd scavenged from junkyards and other used electronics dealers, "one can make almost anything out of nothing special. Be careful though, we haven't fully tested it."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's still in one piece by the time I get back," Mana said with a smile as she pointed to the jetpack with her thumb. "Thankfully, unlike Mr. Blasty here, I did take the time to test out the 'pet project'. (Thank god Keita and Mayumi were able to keep any surveillance off my back while I did so.)" She then slung the strap attached to the railgun over her right shoulder before finally putting her helmet on.
Musashi, when he was a safe distance away, gave her a thumbs-up. "Good luck."
Mana flashed him a thumbs-up of her own with an affirming nod, and then, after getting into a proper stance, pressed the trigger mechanism in her glove, activating the jetpack and causing it to roar to life. She then made a slight jump and was soon zooming off towards the clouds, while Musashi rushed back inside so he and the others could get the comm channel in her helmet open on their end.
End Chapter 21.
**Author's Note(s)** As Ritsuko, Maya, Satsuki, and Kaede make their way through the gangways, a bone is thrown towards
Maria's means of becoming the prodigy she is today, as mentioned, is akin to that of her granduncle Doc Savage, the only difference being that Clark Savage was trained from birth by his father Clark Savage Sr. and the team of scientists he assembled.
And finally, the big reveal of this chapter, in that Mana Kirishima isn't just a member of Maria's new Fabulous Five-she's also the new Rocketeer! I was inspired by Mike313's "Superwomen of EVA 2: Girl of Steel" and OrionPax09's "Superwomen of EVA: Iron Resolve" (his rebuild of The Rei-Fan's "Superwomen of EVA: The Truth Is...") and thought, what would be the pulp equivalent of either of those? As for how the Rocketeer connects to the Shadow, the late, great Dave Stevens (creator of the Rocketeer) featured characters from the Shadow mythos (including the Shadow's alter-ego Lamont Cranston) in a three-part storyline collected by Dark Horse Comics as The Rocketeer: Cliff's New York Adventure. Incidentally, Doc Savage had also appeared in a separate Rocketeer story as well. Mana's helmet and jetpack design are meant to invoke the hero Sky High from the anime series Tiger & Bunny, while her weapon is based on the one that came with the 1991 Mercer figure from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line. (Which, coincidentally, was included with two jet pack troopers for a 2007 exclusive figure set.)